Why The Denver Nuggets Will Be The Next Dynasty Of The NBA

In the last decade, the Denver Nuggets were at best an average organization with just four all-star appearances while only making it past the first round once in the 2019 season. Even though they did lose to the Portland Trailblazers in seven games, Denver’s future looks bright as they have been able to draft excellent while continuously having an elite second unit. However, in the NBA bubble, the Nuggets have been one of the more active and successful teams in the league as they have potentially revived the names of Michael Porter Jr and Bol Bol who were both projected to be much higher picks in their draft class, but due to injuries, they were selected much lower. With both these young stars having exceptional resurrections in their career so far, here is why the Denver Nuggets will be the best NBA franchise for many years to come!

Exhibiting A Superstar Center That Plays Like A Point Guard.

Nikola Jokic is a 2× NBA All-Star (2019, 2020) All-NBA First Team (2019) NBA All-Rookie First Team (2016) Serbian Player of the Year (2018) ABA League MVP (2015) and an ABA League Top Prospect (2015) while only being 25 years old! With his court vision and outside scoring, the Denver Nuggets drafted a stud that changed their entire identity as they believed that Jokic could be their team’s saviour. When he was drafted, the Nuggets were at best a lacklustre organization with many centers and no guards. The Nuggets exhibited four starting calibre centers while having no direction as to where they wanted to go. However, in 2017, Nikola Jokic would shine and become the unanimous starting center for the Nuggets that forced them to trade away Jusuf Nurkic to the Portland Trailblazers in exchange for Mason Plumlee. This trade benefited both teams as Denver was slowly starting to form an identity with Jokic and didn’t need another dominant center like Nurkic. Fast-forward to the present day, and Jokic is now arguably the best center in the NBA as he impacts his team on offence in ways that almost seem unreal. Having a center that plays like a point guard is intimidating for any organization that faces the Nuggets as no center can properly guard Jokic one on one.

The Rise Of Michael Porter Jr. 

In the 2018 NBA draft, the Denver Nuggets selected Michael Porter Jr with the 14th pick. Porter Jr was supposed to have been a top 3-5 selection, but due to his nagging back injuries, many teams were hesitant to select an injury, prone player. With most lottery teams having little to no future that season, they were unable to risk their pick for a player with many uncertainties. However, the Denver Nuggets were in a unique situation as they already had a quality roster and could afford to take the risk in drafting Porter Jr. In his first season, he did not play, and even though he was cleared at one point, the Nuggets didn’t want to risk his production and instead gave him time to adjust to an NBA body. 

In the 2019-20 season, Porter Jr had a slow start as he barely received minutes but showed flashes of all-star potential. The 6’10 forward tried his best but could not become that starting small forward that Denver needed him to be. It wasn’t until COVID-19 that changed everything for Michael Porter Jr as he had four months to recoup and prepare for either an NBA return or the beginning of the 2020-21 NBA season! With all the story-lines leading up to this season, the NBA couldn’t afford to cancel this season and instead created the bubble where Micheal Porter Jr would become one of the best players on his team. With him being named the All-NBA bubble second team, in just his first season of playing NBA basketball, Michael Porter Jr can become the best player on the Denver Nuggets behind Nikola Jokic! 

Elite Depth

In the last three seasons, the Denver Nuggets drafted and signed lower end players that have a lot of potential to become solid rotational pieces. From Monte Morris to Bol Bol, the Nuggets entire roster has been created through the draft except for Paul Millsap, Jerami Grant, Will Barton, Mason Plumlee, and Troy Daniels. Denver has been able to draft well. Even though they traded the rights of Donavan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, they have been able to create an excellent rotational roster where every player deserves some form of playing time. Having a roster this deep is what propelled the Nuggets to become a top team in the Western Conference. Jokic plays a massive role in their success, but basketball is a team sport, which is something that the front-office realized the moment that they saw how Jokic played. They surrounded him with unselfish players that can shoot the ball and defend where Jokic couldn’t. As a result, the Nuggets have consistently become a top three-seeded team over the last two seasons and were one game away from making it to the conference finals in just their first appearance in the entire decade! Denver’s future is bright with their stars, but their depth is what makes this team shine as their chemistry on and off the court is almost poetic. Denver has a brotherhood, and all share one goal: win a championship for a team that has been practically irrelevant since they entered the league until now. The Dallas Mavericks may have a better one-two punch, but the depth and heart that this Denver team possesses is far more superior, which makes them the better team. 

Confidence

If you ask any of the Denver Nuggets players about what they think their chances are in making the NBA finals, none of them have a doubt in their minds that they can’t do it. In the previous season, this team shocked the NBA and went on a rampage as they defeated some of the best clubs, including the Golden State Warriors and the Toronto Raptors. As a young team, that is very impressive as the Nuggets exhibit a similar situation that the Oklahoma City Thunder faced when they first emerged as a young promising team. With three future MVP’s, OKC was projected to become the next dynasty in the NBA that would steam-roll through every opponent that they would face. Unfortunately, Sam Presti would make a foolish trade that ended that fantasy and would only reach the finals once. The Denver Nuggets are in a similar situation as they are among some of the best teams in the NBA, like the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks. The only difference that those teams have that Denver doesn’t is experience and maturity. In the present day, the Nuggets are, at best, a conference finals team that has many upsides. The aspect that makes this team so unique is their confidence in themselves and their belief about how well they will be once they develop experience and maturity. The games that they play in the playoffs is just preparation for when this team is ready to compete for a championship. As of right now, the Nuggets are still a young team and are a season away from becoming a finals contender.